With the start of a new year, state lawmakers will return to their chambers for a new legislative session. Christians should pay attention to bills under consideration. Although the debates and tweets in Washington, D.C., capture more media attention, laws passed in statehouses often have a more direct and immediate impact on the lives of those in our communities.

There is a scene in the biblical Christmas story that bugs me. I didn’t notice it for years. But one Christmas as I was preparing a couple of sermons, I was struggling with how to talk about the same stories we all know and love (without causing the congregation to saw yule logs during the sermon). I fear that sometimes we know the stories so well that we do not really pay attention to the mystery and magic of them.

A popular myth surrounds the hymn “Amazing Grace.” It illustrates that how we tell a story matters, because the details teach us the moral of the story. The simple version makes it seem like someone just needs to get saved and then magically they will walk away from all bad things like slave trading.

As a journalist, there are stories I love to write. Like the stories from the annual gathering of the Baptist World Alliance last month in Bangkok, Thailand. These types of events inspire me and deepen my faith, so I’m excited to share them with others.

There are other stories I feel a responsibility to write about, even though I wish the issues I must address did not exist.

If Baptists have a guiding word it would likely be “cooperative” — at least in theory. Yet, it seems we no longer believe in the c-word. Many Baptist churches have a denominational connection on paper, but are increasingly independent in practice.

A couple local public school ballot initiatives recently inspired me to go door-to-door with my wife and five-year-old son. I told my son to say “vote for J & C” to indicate the two ballot initiatives we supported. Instead, whenever someone opened the door, he jumped up and exclaimed, “Vote for me!”